


Inheritance

by Branithar



Series: Short Fics [7]
Category: Waterparks (Band)
Genre: Gen, Spooky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2021-01-30 02:26:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21420667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Branithar/pseuds/Branithar
Summary: Awsten explores his long-dead great grandmother’s house with Jawn.
Series: Short Fics [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1409368
Kudos: 11





	Inheritance

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: A spider had woven its web around the ring. That should have been a pretty clear sign not to take it.

“Your great grandma left this whole house to you?” Jawn clarified, shining his flashlight around the dusty living room. 

Awsten shrugged and nodded. “That’s what she said. I was meant to get it when I was eighteen, but they only just found the will.” He touched a bookshelf, his fingertips coming away thick with dust. “It’s been a fuckin’ while.” 

Jawn gave Awsten a weird look. “Did you even know her?” 

Awsten shook his head. “Died before I was born. But Mom and Dad told her what they’d name me.” He frowned and read a few of the books’ titles. The ones that had them on the spines, at least. Most of them looked like super fucking old leather-bound tomes, though a few of the soft covers looked no more than a couple of decades old. 

Jawn shook his head and went back to looking around the room. “No offence, but your family is fucking _weird_.”

“I mean, fuck you, but...” Awsten wiped more dust off a spine. “These books are about cursing and fairies and shit.”

Jawn came over to see. “She liked fairytales?” 

“I don’t think so.” Handing his flashlight to Jawn, Awsten slid a book from the shelf and leafed through it. “Well, maybe, but this looks legit. I mean-“ He shrugged at Jawn’s skeptical expression. “Whoever wrote it probably thought it was, you know?” 

“Yeah, yeah.” 

Awsten put the book back and took his flashlight. “Guess we’ll keep looking around. Figure out if I wanna sell it all or...”

“Fucking _live_ here?” Jawn finished disbelievingly. 

“I mean, it’s a fixer-upper, but it could be nice. Maybe I‘ll rent it out or something.” 

The house didn’t get less weird the more they saw of it. Awsten wondered who’d covered the mirrors all those years ago. Some of the ancient herbs in the kitchen were recognisable, but others...might not have even been food safe. 

“Good luck bringing pretty hookups in here,” Jawn joked when they found the master bedroom, “Well. Good luck getting them to come back.” 

Opening the curtains lit up the room, illuminating the floral wallpaper and bedsheets. 

“I could do it,” Awsten said confidently. 

Shaking his head, Jawn went to the vanity, the mirrors of which had cloth draped over them, just like the ones downstairs. “Sure you could.“ He opened the jewellery box and rummaged through. “Think any of these are real?” 

“Maybe,” Awsten said, “I’ll see if Mom wants any of it, get the rest looked at.” 

“So...none of it was left to her already?” 

“The will said the house and everything in it would go to me,” Awsten confirmed, “Still gonna give my parents whatever they want, though. She was old, maybe she actually meant to leave it all to Mom anyway but she got confused or forgot. Guess we’ll never know.” 

“Yeah.” Jawn looked at the bed. Did Awsten’s great grandma die there? “So...you wanna explore the basement?” 

Awsten grinned. “Hell yes.” 

The first thing Awsten was gonna do when he started going through everything was change all the lightbulbs in the house, he swore to God. This house was creepy enough without them having to tiptoe around with flashlights. 

Per the laws of mysteriously inherited houses, the basement was filled with clutter. Furniture and boxes were piled high and it was impossible to see the opposite wall from any side of the room. 

“Found the washing machine,” Jawn said. 

“What?” Awsten went to his side, then shined the flashlight back at the entrance to the basement. “You can’t even see the fucking stairs from here.” 

Jawn shined his flashlight behind the machine, squeezing between it and a cupboard to see. “Looks like it’s plugged in.” He leaned over some more, squinting. “There’s something here.” 

As he reached behind the machine, a feeling of dread washed over Awsten. 

“You probably shouldn’t do that.” 

“It’s fine, I can reach.” He put his flashlight down on the machine and reached until he nearly had his shoulder squeezed in. 

“Dude, you can look at whatever it is later, when I get all this shit moved outta here.” 

“No, it’s fine, I’ve almost got it.”

“_Jawn._”

Jawn straightened up, looking at what he’d found. “Got it. See?” 

Awsten shined his torch on the ring he was holding. “Fuckin’ gross, dude.”

A spider had woven its web around the ring. That should have been a pretty clear sign not to take it. 

“You want it?” Jawn asked, holding it out. 

“_No,_” Awsten said, stepping back. 

Picking up his flashlight, Jawn rolled his eyes. “We’ll wash it when we get back upstairs. It’s totally your thing.” 

Awsten grimaced. “Whatever.” 

They went back to the kitchen, clicking their flashlights off since their eyes were used to the semi-darkness. Awsten took a seat at the cluttered island bench while Jawn ran the tap. 

“Here you go,” he eventually said, “See? It’s nice.”

Awsten groaned and went to his side to see. “Huh.” 

He was right. Without all the dust and webs, it was pretty cool. Tiny metal roses wreathed a closed eye, their thorny stems weaving around the ring. 

“Told you.” 

“Shut up, Jawn.”


End file.
